Rechargeable batteries have been widely used for supplying power to electronic devices, in particular, portable electronic devices. FIG. 1 shows such a conventional rechargeable battery 20′, which is typically configured to fit in a battery chamber of an electronic device. The battery 20′ is formed with an electrical contact 22′ for electrically connecting with an electrical port on the electronic device so that the battery 20′ can supply power to the electronic device. The battery 20′ can also have additional structures, such as a battery lock and/or a battery chamber door, for retaining the battery 20′ in position inside the battery chamber of the electronic device, after the battery 20′ is installed inside the battery chamber.
Due to their limited capacity, rechargeable batteries require regular charging to continue power supply to the electronic devices. There are typically two ways of charging a rechargeable battery, one of which is to leave the battery inside the electronic device and connect the electronic device with a battery charger to charge the battery inside the electronic device. As the electronic device is physically attached to and electrically connected with the battery charger when using this charging method to charge the battery, it is awkward or restrictive to use such an electronic device in a normal manner during the battery charging process.
An alternative way of charging a rechargeable battery is to remove the battery from the electronic device and charge the battery separately outside the battery chamber of the electronic device. Typically, a replacement battery can be used in the electronic device to allow the electronic device to continue to operate, while the original battery is being charged. Such battery replacement operation can cause interruption to the power supply to the electronic device. For example, as soon as the original battery is removed from the electronic device, the power supply to the electronic device is discontinued, which is then turned off or shut down, such as by an internal protection circuit. As a result of such battery replacement, the operations carried out by the electronic device are terminated.
The power interruption occurred during the battery replacement interferes with the normal use of the electronic device, such as by interrupting or terminating communication, conversation, and/or data transfer process. For example, when the rechargeable battery is removed from the electronic device while one or more applications are in use, the results of such applications and settings are lost. The user must reset these settings and rerun the applications to obtain the same results, when the electronic device is turned back on after power supply to the electronic device resumes. In other words, conventional rechargeable batteries are unable to carry out hot-swap battery replacement.